


the one lead by fate

by etherealities



Series: a universe of love [4]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 'it's so vanilla i'd put sprinkles on it and eat it with a waffle cone and hot fudge', and def some mature scenes but nothing explicit at all, anyway it's a little bit sweet and a little bit sad and a little bit dark, cawllection, haechan and renjun are just mentioned tbh, i wish fate to help you all as it helped sicheng, in the words of a beta reader, or i think they are i did a lot of editing instead of actual writing cause WRITERS BLOCK!, this one is a little angsty, which is a quite interesting sentence i may use that somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 08:17:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20132287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherealities/pseuds/etherealities
Summary: he saw yuta, just yuta, when they tore at each other deep into the night, tangled in their physicality, and sicheng learned that yuta hid heaven not only in his mind but in his body.ORthey're not chasing each other, but they do seem to be tied together.





	the one lead by fate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [a friend of mine](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=a+friend+of+mine).

> um. this part is longer cause i miss yuwin.
> 
> listen to strawberries & cigarettes for vibes  
[twitter](https://twitter.com/gothdejun)

he'd seen him for the first time in france. in an art gallery.

sicheng had just been wandering around quietly, passing the time and people-watching more than actually looking at the art. so it stood to reason that the blonde-haired boy would catch his attention. with a smile like that as he laughed with his friend, how could he not stop and watch him for a moment? 

but he moved on, didn't say anything.

the second time was later, outside the same gallery. sicheng was sitting in the cafe, slowly sipping his coffee, taking in the garden just outside. the same boy was wandering through the garden, his friend modelling for him, taking pictures among the amaryllis and magnolia. this time he noticed just how focused he was. the boy knew exactly how to direct someone, how to angle, went the whole 100 miles to take exactly the picture he wanted. he even had a museum worker to show him what was allowed and to give him exceptions. 

sicheng left as they approached the roses.

the third time sicheng saw the boy, he nearly didn't recognize him.

it was nighttime in tokyo, just under a year later. sicheng stood by the pier, a cigarette in hand, admiring the way the moon reflected off of the water just barely dimmer than the lights behind him. he heard footsteps behind him and stood still, waiting for either an approach or something else.

he got the former.

_light mine?_ the stranger requested. sicheng took a moment to process the japanese, then turned and obliged, studying the face which had been thrown into shadow. the two of them went and stood together in silence for a moment, staring out at the water. 

_have i seen you before?_ he finally asked, turning to look at the guy's profile. his hair was bright red, his fingers long and lean as he lifted the cigarette from his lips.

oh, his lips.

they were a tantalizing shade of pink, beautiful even in the pale light, lit only halfway when he turned to face sicheng as well. the small smile that played across those lips was teasing, almost, in the way they stayed softly parted, white smoke drifting gently.

how he wanted to feel those lips on him. anywhere, really. 

_i was wondering when you'd ask,_ the man replied, drawing sicheng's gaze back up to his eyes. _france, last year, in the art gallery. the statues, and then the garden. i was with a friend._

sicheng blinked in surprise, giving the man another once-over. _that was you, huh?_ he motioned towards his hair. _change your hair that often?_

he replied with a humourless laugh, turning to look at the city and taking another pull of nicotine before replying, which gave sicheng another moment to study him. standing beside him, after all, was a much better vantage point than fourty plus feet away. 

his eyes were bright in the light from the city, somehow open and completely impassable all at once. the blindingly artificial red of his hair suited him well; it was a stark contrast to the soft blond of before. it made him into a completely different person, but that could also be the fact that he was now dressed to kill in tight black jeans, ripped at the knees, and at the thighs a little too high to be casually picked, and a loose black shirt that showed off his collar bones and a little lower. sicheng felt a bit plain beside him, in dark jeans and a white shirt, his strawberry blonde hair swept behind an ear. he suddenly really felt like he needed a haircut.

the other man spoke again, turning back towards sicheng as he did, and suddenly sicheng was glad that the moon was as bright as it was. _i dye my hair more often than is probably healthy,_ he admitted. _and what about it?_ smoke drifted from his lips as he took another pull, sicheng mimicking it as he shrugged. he looked away to the city, but the urge to stare at the strange prince in front of him was too strong. he gave in quickly.

_nothing about it. it looks good,_ he paused. _i‘m sicheng, by the way._

_sicheng,_ he repeated, as if testing the name on his lips. sicheng liked how it sounded coming out of the other’s mouth. _i’m yuta,_ he said with a tilt of his pretty head. _your name isn’t japanese. neither is your accent,_ yuta mused, studying sicheng. _you’re from… china?_ he guessed. sicheng affirmed his statement with a small hum. _first time in tokyo?_ he’d switched to mandarin - sicheng could easily appreciate that. he spoke naturally and smoothly. _up for a few drinks? i’ll show you around._ yuta’s smirk was back, his eyes almost daring sicheng to say no.

sicheng didn’t bother to take that dare. 

a few hours and too many drinks later, the two of them stumbled into yuta’s apartment. yuta’s hands roamed sicheng as they rid of their shoes, jeans, never separating. clothes trailed down the hallway, and they collapsed onto the mattress, minds hazy with alcohol. but even through that, sicheng couldn’t pretend he hadn’t craved this since he first laid eyes on yuta.

> -

soft breathing filled the room as they laid on the bed, legs still tangled. sicheng twisted so his back was flush against yuta’s chest, not minding the sweaty feeling, finding the rise and fall of yuta’s breaths comforting. he relaxed into yuta’s touch as he threw an arm over sicheng’s shoulders, idly kissing the back of his neck. sicheng would usually get up, push away, on edge - but yuta had the opposite effect. he was addicting, probably dangerously so, and sicheng just wanted to press into him deeper, to be like this with him for longer. he turned again so they were face to face, burying his face into the crook of yuta’s neck. 

yuta laughed gently, teasingly as his breath hit sicheng’s back. _we should probably get clean,_ he whispered. sicheng nodded in agreement, planting kisses along yuta’s jaw, neck.

_we should,_ he hummed. 

neither of them moved.

> -

an hour later, the two of them fell asleep on yuta’s couch, dressed in yuta’s overlarge clothing, ignoring the messy bed. and for once, sicheng couldn’t find an ounce of regret in spending the night with a stranger.

> -

the morning, as expected, brought pounding headaches and dry throats. yuta was nowhere in sight, but sicheng was still covered by a blanket so he assumed yuta didn’t hate him and regret everything about last night. sicheng sure didn’t, even with how blurry his vision was and the way he could not stand up yet.

he sat on the couch for a minute or so, letting the blood rush to his head stop before attempting any movement. he stretched his limbs, thankful that yuta’s curtains were the dark blue colour that they were - even the small amount of light from the hallway didn’t agree with sicheng. 

he sat still for a bit more, then slowly stood up, stumbling into the bathroom, finding it on the first try through sheer luck and vague memories of a rather hot shower - both temperature-wise and in other ways. he washed his face in the dark, gargled some water and dried up. he made his way to the kitchen, smelling something greasy alongside the gentler fragrance of tea.

yuta stood in front of the microwave, eyes closed as he leaned against the counter. he had a small lamp on in the corner instead of the overhead lights being on, and the soft light made everything seem a little hazy at the edges. his red hair was now slightly curled - naturally wavy, sicheng supposed. it made his features seem much softer, his closed eyes and plain clothing (white shirt, black shorts) making him seem so much more serene, so much more vulnerable. 

it wasn't fair to look this pretty while you were hungover, sicheng thought.

yuta opened his eyes, nodding towards sicheng. 

sicheng nodded in response, accepting the cup of tea and advil offered. he rarely drank tea - usually preferred coffee for a hangover. but even yuta's voice was soft in the morning - something about it comforted him.

_wendy's and tea?_ he questioned, taking note of the bag on the counter.

yuta nodded. _better than toast for a hangover. i called an uber to drop it off,_ he admitted, a small smile playing across his lips. _and tea is a lot better than coffee for a hangover - honey lemon tea._ he shrugged. _found that out a few weeks ago, actually - let me know if it works any._ how did yuta manage to be so thoughtful? he’d even remembered to speak in mandarin, somehow. was he attempting to make sicheng feel comfortable? it had that effect at the least. sicheng again nodded in response, thinking about the way he’s seen yuta smile in france. now, in the softer light of morning, he wanted to make yuta smile like that. like he didn’t have a thousand things running through his mind. 

_sleep alright?_ yuta questioned. he was watching sicheng - had he zoned out?. 

he hummed something affirmative as he took a quick sip of the tea - it was good.

_yeah. better than the hotel, for sure._ he offered a small smile, about to continue when the microwave pinged and both of them jumped, yuta immediately reaching for the door.

a plate of fries and two burgers were brought to the couch, and the two of them sat in relative silence, broken only by idle chat. slowly enough, the curtains opened and sicheng’s headache faded to a dull throb somewhere in his temples. 

it was decided, slowly, that sicheng would stay at yuta's instead of the hotel for the remainder of his time in tokyo. yuta had offered, and with the brightness in his eyes as he'd asked, how could sicheng say no? so they went, picked up his stuff, and got sicheng set in the spare bedroom. 

they spent the rest of the day exploring tokyo. one day quickly turned into two, and then a week. sicheng had never expected the man he saw in france to be this enchanting.

yuta had this purity about him, a genuine quality, as if a slice of heaven was hidden in his mind. sicheng felt it.

he'd felt it even in that first night in tokyo, there was nothing yuta was hiding. he felt yuta's purity even when he woke up shaking, sending sicheng tumbling out of bed to comfort him without knowing what had happened. he felt yuta's emotions genuinely as yuta burrowed into the covers and into sicheng's warmth. he felt the unconditional trust that yuta had placed in sicheng when they woke in the mornings, sicheng's spare bed barely touched. he felt yuta's white, snowy aura when they ran through tokyo, laughing at nothing and living like there was nothing else to do. and he saw yuta, just yuta, when they tore at each other deep into the night, tangled in their physicality, and sicheng learned that yuta hid heaven not only in his mind but in his body.

> -

two weeks passed too quickly.

sicheng felt as though he'd left half his soul in tokyo. he greeted his brother half-heartedly, but yangyang was quickly placated with the gifts from france and across japan.

sicheng knew he couldn't be heartbroken forever. nor could he return to japan a mere month after being there. he went to america instead.

st louis was worth nothing but the way yangyang smiled, which convinced sicheng easily to stay for nearly a week. chicago was much better.

yangyang met a kid of his own similar age, they found that they both knew a huang renjun and a lee donghyuck. mark was really friendly; he and his brother johnny brought their entire trip alive. they stayed in chicago for two weeks, as sicheng usually stayed in an area, and after they came across the two siblings for the second day in a row, they decided they'd all switch to the same hotel and stick with each other for the rest of their trip.

the four of them wandered chicago, running through the shallow waters and pushing each other in. sicheng couldn't help but imagine the smile yuta would have if he was here.

somehow, johnny could tell.

the two of them, the older ones, were sitting on the sand by the water's edge when johnny asked sicheng. _who are you heartbroken for?_ he'd asked. sicheng somehow found the trust in johnny to tell him everything. 

he told him about how they met in france, then tokyo, and about how he'd spent two weeks at his place. and now, after about a month, all he did was miss yuta, his prince. it wasn't as sharp as it used to be - a dull ache was left instead of the piercing pain he'd lived with for a week.

johnny seemed to understand.

_you guys exchanged numbers. call him up,_ he suggested.

sicheng shrugged. yuta and he talked almost daily but it could never be the same as seeing his smile in person.

_so go see him._

as if that hadn’t been the only thing sicheng had been thinking about for an entire month.

> -

the dull ache in sicheng's chest was slowly replaced by a fonder, warmer one for the way yangyang laughed. the two of them left chicago satisfied, saying a warm goodbye to the golden-souled siblings they'd met there. 

the next stop was new york city. 

the first day was spent in a rush, running with yangyang from place to place in a daze of excitement. one day blurred into two, then a week. day nine, though - that was nothing blurry.

yangyang saw him first.

_sicheng… he had red hair, right?_

sicheng's head snapped up. yangyang liked to tease.

_yeah. why?_

_red to like, his jaw, right? likes to wear leather jackets with bright shirts? uh, his hair is longer though. maybe like, halfway down his neck? it's tied up so i really can't tell to be honest but anyway he's got black roots now and he's sitting like, twenty feet away._ yangyang was staring somewhere past sicheng, towards the front of the restaurant. sicheng was almost afraid to turn around, but he did.

yangyang, in fact, had not been mistaken.

how did he leave sicheng speechless like this? sitting literally three tables down, scrolling through his phone as he waited for his food was yuta, his hair tied back from his face unmistakable. and suddenly sicheng was just a kid again, nervous in front of his crush, wondering if he looked okay and if he had any breath mints with him right now (he did).

yangyang stood, prepared to march over to yuta, but sicheng pulled him down. _you can't just march over there!___

_why not?_

_because…_ sicheng's brain spun wildly for a reason why not and the words came just as the thought formed. _what if he doesn't want to see me?_

their waitress arrived, setting down food and a slip of paper by sicheng's plate. _it's from the red-haired man on table twenty,_ she said confidentially. neither of them needed to turn to know who she meant. 

_have i seen you before?_ the note read. _perhaps in tokyo?_

yangyang glared at sicheng, who sighed and stood up 

yuta only looked up when sicheng slipped the paper under his nose on the table. _i was wondering when you'd ask._

> -

six weeks were spent in new york. the city felt a little brighter with both yangyang and yuta beside him. those two got along well; they seemed to enjoy attempting to annoy sicheng, which really just amused all three of them. 

they moved hotels, taking rooms next to each other. at some point, yuta showed up to their room at six in the morning with freshly dyed jet black hair. sicheng practically had a seizure and even yangyang was speechless. who wouldn’t be, at yuta standing at your door that early in the morning, four piercings in with a white shirt and black jeans, waiting for a reaction? 

those next few days were hazy for sicheng, blending one day into the next. the sharpest memories were of yuta; yangyang; and more yuta. yuta smiling. yangyang in sicheng’s jacket. yuta in sicheng’s jacket; yuta’s jacket on sicheng. yuta sprawled across his bed, play fighting with yangyang. yuta splayed across sicheng’s lap, one hand intertwined with sicheng’s and the other tangled in yangyang’s hair as the youngest slept. yuta’s smile as the reached the top of the tower, yangyang’s shouts as he tried to count how many birds flew overhead. the way yangyang stared at yuta in something like amazement when he bought all three of them ice cream. yuta’s focus as he wiped yangyang’s chin clean of sugar. yangyang’s laugh when yuta kissed sicheng after asking how his ice cream tasted and the smug smile on his face afterwards. yuta’s astonishment and excitement when yangyang showed him all the pictures he’d sneakily taken of the two of them, yangyang’s delight (and sicheng’s own) when they found yuta had done the same for the two of them.

those days faded into slower ones. they travelled to china for a bit, where yuta admitted he’d quit his job with the intention of moving somewhere new. for the moment, he had nowhere small to stay, and he had no mind to pick somewhere in all honesty. 

sicheng quite liked that. 

sometime through the next few years, yangyang fell in love with france. he moved there, attending classes and getting familiar with the language of love quite quickly.

yuta and sicheng visited quite often, stopping in their travels to see him and rest. they’d moved near barcelona and lived sparsely, carefully, living an almost migratory life. they became each other’s homes.

once when visiting yangyang, they’d found he had guests - ones that sicheng recognized, and yuta somehow did too.

yangyang reintroduced those golden-souled siblings who lived in france together, and a less-than-newcomer - to yuta, at least. it had to be that way, right? yuta’d rushed forward and so had jaehyun, and johnny had tripped up frantically, and who would have guessed that the three of them had known each other? who would have expected johnny’s boyfriend to be the one yuta had pictures of among flowers in france, who would’ve expected that yuta had come to chicago because johnny, his close friend, had been born there and yuta had wanted to see what it was like?

maybe your red strings were tied to more than one person. maybe your aura could feel who had been touched by your love, and who had been touched by your soulmate.

or maybe things just had a way of working out. 

**Author's Note:**

> screech thank you guys for reading this series! it'll keep going for sure but i am working on a couple other ones now so forgive slow updates as i work on those and as school starts up!
> 
> i read all the comments so if you leave some i'll cry of happiness and reply <3 thank u guys i love you all! praying for yuwin interactions
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/gothdejun)


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